The main characteristic feature of the landscape Nebrodi is a great diversity of landforms, rich vegetation and wetlands. The Arabs called Nebrodi as “Island in the Island” and the reason was the richness of forests, green pastures, quiet lakes and bubbling streams – the country so different from the image of dry and sun-scorched Sicily.

Nature Reserve (Parco naturale) Nebrodi was founded in 1993 and covers the most important and largest forested area of Sicily (about 50,000 ha). Despite of the deteriorating conditions of environmental, Nebrodi still offers the greatest wealth of fauna from all over Sicily. Some species have disappeared, unfortunately – the last wolves were killed at the end of twentieth century, the population of vultures extinct during the 60′s due to poisoned baits for foxes. Among the current, often scarce inhabitants of Nebrodi are porcupine, wild cat, pine marten, greenish turtle, mud turtle, frog, and colorful green jumper. Area of Nebrodi includes 150 bird species, many of them are endemic.

The hiking trails lead through the protected area from the west to the east. In the ridge you can find the only wetland in Sicily, which offers also the beautiful natural scenery.

The highest peak of Nebrodi is the Monte Soro (1,817 m).

View The Nebrodi Mountains – the largest forested area of Sicily, Italy in a larger map

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Gran Paradiso National Park, Italy by Lexe-I

The Alpine ibex was a popular animal to hunt throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. As a result of this hunting, only 60 of them were said to have been left. People hunted the ibex for sport as well as for their various body parts. There is a cross-shaped bone that can be found in the ibex which has been used as a means of protecting people from dying a violent kind of death.

It was Victor Emmanuel who would first make steps to prevent the further decline of the ibex population. Set to become the king of Italy, Victor designated the area as the Royal Hunting Reserve of the Gran Paradiso back in 1856. Then in 1920, King Victor Emmanuel III set out to make the area the first nation’s park. Today there are more than 4,000 ibex living in the Gran Paradiso National Park.

Gran Paradiso National Park, Italy by SNappa2006

There are 57 glaciers in the Gran Paradiso National Park as the area includes more than 703 square kilometers of land. Some of the park is used today for agricultural purposes and much of it is for leisure. The Gran Paradiso Mountain stands 4,000 meters above sea level which makes it one of the tallest mountains in Italy. From its peak, you can see both the Matterhorn as well as Mont Blanc. When combined with the Vanoise National Park just across the border in France, you have the European Union’s largest protection area. The French park is also dedicated to the Alpine ibex.

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